Because It's Always Funny
by MayFairy
Summary: Doctor Who AU. A search for a smoothie stand goes awry when the Doctor insults an alien mob boss's clothing: the Time Lady denies any fault on her part even when it turns into a firefight, and Emma after a month of travelling realises the ridiculous extent of what she's gotten into. First in an out of order ficlet series about the adventures of Doctor!Regina and Companion!Emma.


**I read a fic on AO3 with Regina and Emma as Doctor and companion, and was inspired.**

 **Cover credit to kahlanhbic on Tumblr, used with permission.**

* * *

"Is your life always like this?"

Emma's shout over the din of the firefight around them is almost lost in the wind, but the glare the Doctor sends her makes it clear that she heard.

"Like _what_ , Miss Swan?"

"Well we were trying to find a smoothie stand and now we're being shot at by a group of cybernet gangsters because you insulted the boss!"

The Doctor snorts from near where she's crouching behind a piece of debris near Emma's own. "Cyber _netic_ gangsters, dear, and it's hardly my fault that he took offense to my comment about his clothes."

"You said that he must be on laundry day and that you were sure his other clothes were actually nice!"

"Are you trying to tell me that you _liked_ that atrocious outfit of his?!"

"Of course not!" Emma thinks about the orange and green assault on the eyes that had been the mob boss's coat and cringes. "But I'd never have the guts say that to an armed cybernetic alien guy who's eight foot tall and bright purple! I thought out of the two of us you were supposed to be the smart one!"

"I _am_ the smart one!" The Doctor replies hotly, meanwhile fiddling with that sonic screwdriver thing of hers.

"Oh yeah? Well, _oh so smart one_ , how are we getting out of this without getting vaporised?"

"You've been travelling with me for a month now, and you still doubt me?" The Doctor sends her a smug smirk. "Really, Miss Swan, you wound me. I just need him to get a bit closer."

"Closer?!" Emma yelps with alarm, but then the mob boss _does_ take a few steps forward. The Doctor immediately jumps out from behind her bit of debris to point her sonic at one of the speakers that line the streets of the city at regular intervals (mostly to play a weird song about happiness that sounded suspiciously like propaganda when Emma had heard it).

A very loud, very high-frequency wave of sound comes out of the sonicked speaker and Emma covers her ears and cries out in pain. But she can also make out much deeper growls, and a part of her registers that this has to have been the Doctor's plan, that the gangsters must be as incapacitated as she is.

A hand grabs her by the elbow and yanks her to her feet, and Emma lets the Doctor pull her into a sprint as they use their brief window of opportunity to make a break for the TARDIS, which is further down the street in an alley.

"A bit of warning might have been nice!" Emma says as they run, finally able to drop her hands from her ears when the noise stops. Given the crashing sound that came at the same time, it seems likely that the gangsters have destroyed it (maybe even with their bare hands). Which means the two of them need to run even faster.

"Oh, you're alive, aren't you? Stop whining, we're almost there," the Doctor tells her as the blaster shots start zipping past them again.

When they make the turn into the alley and the blue box is at the end of it, relieved doesn't begin to cover how Emma feels. The Doctor snaps her fingers as they get closer and the doors fling open just in time for them to get inside and slam them shut the moment they're in.

The mob boss's shouts get closer but Emma learnt on her first day that nothing can get through the TARDIS doors, so she lets herself relax with her back against them.

A strange laugh escapes her throat. She's with an alien in her time machine, having escaped a bigger, scarier alien who had been trying to kill them because Emma's alien had made a rude remark about his clothing with apparently no consideration of consequences.

Even after a month, the novelty has yet to wear off.

Upon hearing her laugh, the Doctor looks at her oddly. "What?"

"Your life _is_ always like this, isn't it?"

The brunette sniffs. "Maybe."

Emma starts laughing again, this time properly because the entire thing is so absurd and _wonderful_ and without a doubt the best thing to ever happen to her. To her surprise, the Doctor - after a moment's hesitation - joins in. She's laughed in front of Emma before, but only tiny chuckles. This is different.

This time they're laughing together, full hearty laughs at themselves more than anything else, and Emma gets the idea that she's not the only one that hasn't laughed like this in far too long.

When it finally fades, they're still shoulder to shoulder and half-leaning against the TARDIS interior doors, their heads turned so that they're looking at each other. It's nice, the moment of stillness after the noise of their laughter, but Emma has to try not to think about the very small amount of distance between them. (Running away with an alien who has a time machine is complicated enough without focusing on the fact that the alien is really, really hot.)

"I'll make you a deal," Emma says, swallowing.

The Doctor's eyebrow goes up. "Oh? What deal might that be?"

"Like you said, it's been a month," the blonde continues. _The best month of my life, probably_. "I'll stop doubting you...if you start calling me Emma."

It's hard to tell if the Doctor is amused or sceptical, but there's definitely a spark of something in her dark brown eyes as they regard Emma thoughtfully. "Alright," she says slowly, "You have yourself a deal…Emma."

The sound of her name coming from the Doctor's lips sends warmth coursing through Emma's whole body. _Shit, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all._

"Cool," Emma mumbles, like an idiot, and ducks her head to break the agonising closeness of their faces. "So, uh, where to next, Doc?"

The Doctor sends her a glare as they push away from the doors and make their way to the console platform. "Don't _ever_ , if you value your life, call me Doc again."

Emma grins. "Sorry."

The Doctor rolls her eyes as she starts working the controls. "No, you're not." The pretense of annoyance doesn't quite hide the underlying fondness or reluctant amusement, and Emma just grins harder.

Oh yeah, this was only going to get better and better.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought! (Also, if you have any little scenarios you'd like to see between Doctor!Regina and Companion!Emma, tell me in a review and if I like it I'll write it!)**

 **-MayFairy :)**


End file.
